QE Corporate partner RefuAid providing tailored support to refugees in the UK

At RefuAid, our primary focus is to provide tailored support to refugees in the UK, allowing them to live independent and dignified lives – and our work is in more demand than ever before.

The invasion of Ukraine, the evacuation of Afghanistan and climate disasters across the globe, including the most recent earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, are amongst the many issues forcing people into displacement; it’s estimated that over 89 million people are now thought to have been displaced worldwide.

2023 is therefore going to be a very big year for us, as we scale up our language provision to ensure we’re able to support as many students and professionals as possible. Thanks to the generosity of English Language schools across the country, many of whom are Quality English members, we already have an incredible network of partners and are looking to expand this even further.

This generosity has already enabled us to achieve so much; over 830 clients have now graduated from the language programme since the start of the programme. Among the graduates, 40% went into higher education, and 24% were doctors who went on to pursue their medical requalification. The remaining, who were from diverse professional backgrounds, were able to start their professional journeys back into employment.

Whilst these numbers are incredible, it’s always important to remember the huge individual life-changing impact this support has. One of our recent graduates, who was evacuated from Kabul in 2021, has successfully passed his OET after studying at one of our partner schools. After passing his exam, he said “"I take this opportunity to once again appreciate your time and RefuAid resources supporting me in my effort to become a doctor in the UK. I remember your words the first time I approached you for support. All of them are just extraordinary and will remain part of good memories for life"

Our approach is comprehensive, so we ensure that people are supported beyond their time on the language programme. For example, professionals who are looking to requalify may be eligible for our interest-free loan to cover the cost of the re-accreditation process. As part of this programme, we have now supported 215 healthcare professionals, 29 lawyers and 17 engineers - amongst others. Almost 30 loans have now been fully repaid and we’ve maintained a 98.6% repayment rate.  

It’s such a huge pleasure to work with Quality English and so many schools across the EFL industry to achieve all this, and we’re looking forward to celebrating more successes in 2023 and beyond.